Young Love
by Bass Clef
Summary: AU. A fic about when Naruto and Sakura met. Chapter 4 is finally here! (Chibi NaruSaku) and I still hate Document Manager!
1. Chapter 1

Authors notes: hey this is my first multi chapter fic. I had to change things from the original plot of the childhood flashbacks from the manga and anime for this story to work. This is a NaruSaku, but who says love can't bloom at a young age? There will also be more couples hinted within this fic.

Timeframe: Seven years before the manga, basically all the rookie genins are 5 (except rock lee, neji, and tenten) wait… weren't the flashbacks about when they were five? If not tell me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but if I did I would make the official couple NaruSaku.

Young Love

            One evening we see our soon to be hero walking aimlessly around the park with his butterfly cage looking for a butterfly to catch, he was about go home until he heard someone crying. When he came closer he saw that it was a girl with pink hair and emerald eyes.

            "Hey," he whispered, "hey you ok? You look like you're crying."

            "Go away… I'm fine!" she cried.

            "No you aren't, were you bullied?"

            "… No I'm fine, just leave me alone!"

            "Oh c'mon, at least tell me your name, mine's Naruto"

            "If you wanna know so bad its Sakura, and if you excuse me I gotta meet up with my mommy for supper"

            "Ok, well cya later Sakura-chan!"

            'Idiot, what makes him think he knows what going on? I could of held it together back there, I don't need his help.' Sakura wondered as she caught up with her mother. They were talking until her mother saw her with a bruise on her face.

            "Sakura, were you bullied again? I swear you have to defend yourself one of these days."

            " I'm alright mommy, it doesn't hurt."

            " You sure? It seems pretty bad; do you want to go home?

            " I'm sure. Oh and mom, have you heard of a kid named Naruto?"

            " Naruto? I don't believe so, but his name sounds really familiar…" her mother trailed off trying to remember who Naruto was, but before she could think anymore they arrived at Ichiraku. 

While ordering Sakura couldn't help wonder whom Naruto was. ' I wonder what he is doing right now. I've only seen him a few times, but I wonder where he lives.' As a sign from the heavens she turned around and saw him walking slowly as if he didn't know where to go. 'Hah, he doesn't even know where he lives, shouldn't his parents be with him?'

~The next day~

As the incarnation of the Demon Fox walks around the park looking for a butterfly he sees Sakura once again. 

            "Hey! Sakura-chan!"

            "Huh? What do you want?" she asks turning to face him. "What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be spending time with your family?"

            "… I don't have any family… umm… Well I gotta go now… see ya later Sakura-chan…" he said while the last part of his sentence was barely audible. He had to run, anywhere was fine, anywhere away from everything. 

            "Hey wait! I'm sorry I didn't know you had no parents! Ugh… It's no use; he's too far away. Naruto, I'm really sorry…"

            After running for what seemed forever, Naruto found himself on top of the Hokage monument. * Sniff * "Why don't I have any family? I don't have anyone… no friends, no family. Sakura's right why am I here?"

            "You're here because you parents loved you," said an old voice.

~End Chapter 1~

Bass Clef: hey it's me well this is my 2nd fic. And I'm pretty sure you know who the old voice is. It was a pretty hard decision to leave it here, but writing this story is pretty fun and I'm positive it will get better. Don't Naruto and Sakura sound a little too grown up in their speech? (I think I've got a problem here…) Well after sleeping 20 hours a day it leaves me plenty of inspiration. After getting more ideas while sleeping this fic will be at least five chapters. Some more characters will be introduced in chapter two.

* Preview of Chap. 2 *

            Naruto receives a journal left by his parents (along with a letter). When he and Sakura meet up again she apologizes.

Oh and one more question, should Naruto's father be the 4th Hokage? (For plot reasons)

Please Read and Review!!!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: welcome to chapter two. If you want to get to the fic just skip my annoying speech here. Well go ahead and skip my Author notes! Go! Scoot! Go to the fic!

* Sigh * delays… well not really, I really didn't think I would get any reviews *** **laughs** * **well by a… 5 review request I'll continue. Umm what else? Oh yeah I won't get much time to write because of my school. But study hall gives me ideas. Feel free to IM me if you have any comments or suggestions. Wow, this was the only story not to get flamed after the bitter yaoi and shonen-ai vs. hetero war. Though I kind of got burnt, I should of brought marshmallows…

Finally I have to give thanks to The SOC Puppet for allowing me to use his ideas for the names of Naruto's parents. NOTE: this fic is in no relation to "Bloodlines" and never will be. Except for the names of Naruto's parents of course.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi does.

Legend/key:

[…] Actions

"…" Speech

'_Italics' _Thoughts

Enjoy!

Chapter II- Parents And Apologies 

            "You're here because your parents loved you," said an elderly voice.

            "WHA!? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? AND WHO ARE YOU!?" he yelled. 

            "What I'm saying is that you HAD parents. I'm also the leader of this village." Said the old man.

            "WHAT!? YOU'RE THE HOKAGE?!  I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD TO BE AN OLD GEEZER TO BE ONE!!"

            'Kids these days.'  "Well what I was going to say was that your parents left a letter for you. Along with a picture of them."

            "Gimme that! Err… um… wha..." Naruto muttered trying to read the kanji, "umm, I can't read"

            "Well that's understandable. Let me read to you."

            _Naruto,_

                        We're sorry that we left you alone, but we want the best for you so we asked the Third to take care of you for a while. 

"What?! I didn't agree to such thing!" yelled the Third.

            "Just read it!"

_We want you to have fun like any kid out there_; _it must be hard though, to be alone without us there to help. There's so much we want to tell you, like your family. Your mother here wanted you learn all of my techniques to become the greatest…_

            "Hmm…"

            "What? What is it?!"

            "It looks like the middle of the letter is unreadable. It must have gotten wet. I may as well read the last part."

            _Naruto, you'll never be alone, never give up and you'll find true happiness one day._

_                                                                                                                                                Your loving parents,_

_                                                                                                                                                Kazama Arashi & Uzumaki Haruka_

"Interesting, I cannot even remember seeing that letter until last week…" mumbled the Third.

            "What?! You've never seen that letter until last week? Where'd you have it?"

            "Hmm…"

* Flashback *

            "Bill… bill… urgent notice… letter from the Fourth that has been lying under all these papers… bill… bill... oh! A new volume of Come Come Paradise… Kakashi must of just ordered this…"

* End Flashback *

            "Hmm… no wonder" whispered the Third, "but what about the…"

* Flashback *

      " Mm this is good sake… now where did my pipe go?" as the Third turns around he knocks over the bottle of sake and the alcohol sinks into important papers such as the letter from Naruto's parents.

"Ah! My sake, oh good it only spilled a little bit. Now… to finish this scroll…"

* End Flashback *

      "Old man… you ruined my letter!" Naruto shouted, "I could of known more about my parents!"

      "Naruto listen, I promised to take care of you and I will. Now stop yelling please." The Third said sternly.

      "NO! Just leave me alone! And gimme that picture!" Naruto screamed while reaching for the photo.

      Naruto ran as far as he could with anger, sadness, and confusion going through his mind. Eventually he came upon the park where he was trying to catch some butterflies the other day.

      He just wanted some time alone, which he got plenty of, but this time around it was different. He didn't want to be bothering anybody or be bothered, he want just wanted to be _alone_.

      " [Sniff] mom...dad… I wish you could be here…[sniff] I don't want to be alone anymore…"

~~~~~~~~ (The next morning) ~~~~~~~~

      "Sakura! You better hurry up for your Ninja academy class! You don't want to be late do you?"

      "No mom! I'll be down in a few moments!" Sakura shouted. In a matter of seconds there was a sound of small feet coming down the stairs ready to go to the academy.

      "Sakura do you want me to walk with you do are you going with Ino and her mother today?" asked Mrs. Haruno.

      "Um… nope, I'm not going with her today, so are you ready mom?"

      "Yes. Now lets go."

      "What do you think I'll be learning today?"

      "I'm not sure. Maybe some history."

      "Aw… I already know everything about Konoha's history though."

      "Even information about the Fourth?"

      "Yup! He was the bravest Hokage Konoha has ever had! He even killed that Demon Fox that threatened the village about 5 years ago!"

            "Not exactly..." Sakura's mother whispered.

            "What did you say mom?"

            "Nothing! Nothing at all!" her mother said suddenly.

            "Ok…" '_I wonder what that was about'_

            "Anyways we're already at the academy. I'll be back to take you home Sakura, ok?"

            "Ok mom. Bye!" '_I wonder what my mom was so nervous about… she might just be afraid of the Demon Fox still. But I wonder what she meant by "Not exactly", something must be going on…'_

            "Sakura! C'mon class is going to start soon!" shouted a familiar voice.

            "Ino-chan! I'm coming don't worry!

      As soon as they got into the classroom the bell rung. And there was a new teacher. 

      "Good morning class! I'm your new sensei, Umino Iruka, and today we'll be going over some history outsid—"

      "YATTAH!!" all the students yelled.

            "What's with all the celebrating?"

            "Our old sensei never took us outside for class! So this will be the first time ever!"

            "Oh! Well I'm pretty sure we'll have fun today. Now let's go outside everyone."

            As everyone left the classroom Ino and Sakura just stood there with big grins on their faces. They both though this was going to be a very easy year, especially since they now would be going outside for class now.

            "Ino, this is going to be fun."

            "Yup, this will be the best year yet."

~~~~~~~~~

            After class ended Sakura's said her goodbyes to her classmates and friends. She only got a few feet out of the academy when she saw Naruto on the swing, swaying back and forth with a frown on his face. She felt this is was the best time to apologize.

            "Hey Naruto, what are you doing here?" she asked curiously.

            "Nothing just... thinking" he replied monotonously.

            "Oh ok, well I just wanted to come by and say…" she paused. She felt as if he was mad at her for being rude to him yesterday, but she had to apologize. It just wasn't polite not to!

            "Say what?" he said again in the same tone.

            "Um… I came to say I'm... I'm sorry for treating badly yesterday, and I was wondering if you'd be my friend."

            "Sorry for what? Everybody in the village treats me badly."

            "What? Why do you say that?" she asks still shocked.

            "Because... because they think I'm a monster!"

            "But why? There has to be a reason!" she started to get very concerned by this point. _'Why would everyone in the village call him a… monster…?'_

            "I don't know why. And I really don't care much anymore" he said quietly as he jumped off the swing landing on his feet. "I'm going home."

            "Wait!"

            "What is it?"

            "You still haven't answered my request."

            "Oh yeah... that… Of course Sakura-chan, I'll be your friend! You'll even be my first friend!" he said with a smile.

            "Oh wow… [Blush] um... no problem Naruto, I'm glad to be your first friend." _'Wow... I'm his first friend, but why am I blushing…?'_

            "cya tomorrow Sakura-chan!" he shouted as he was walking away with a big grin on his face.

            She shouted back, "I'll see you tomorrow as well Naruto!" 

------- End chapter 2 ---------

A/N: hey! I finally updated! Woo! I hope you enjoyed it. Hahaha... I got a BIG inspiration after I started to listen to my old CDs. Sorry if it sucks but I really wanted to update this. Well if you all like this a lot I don't see why I shouldn't update this more often (lol). Just send comments and questions in your reviews or just email me if you have questions. Well cya next chapter... I hope!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: hey fans, reviewers, other authors, etc. just a lil update here before the chapter begins. It has come to my attention that Young Love should be longer than 7 chapters, don't ask me why but aren't you glad? Anyways chapter 4 should be here before the year is over and maybe a Christmas fic as a gift to you all.

DON'T FORGET THAT THIS IS AU!

Legend/Key:

*…* = Actions

"…" = Speech

'_Italics'_ = thoughts

Enjoy!

Chapter 3:

~That night~

            Sakura was lying on her bed after supper and she was lost in thought. _'I can't believe I'm his only friend, so maybe I'm his best friend! But, why was I blushing back there? Do I… do I like him? No… I can't, I hardly know him at all. And I have to find out why everyone calls him a monster. Maybe I'll see him again tomorrow…I… I-I hope I do…'  _"Well I better go to bed now, I don't want to be tired tomorrow… * yawn * good night Naruto…" her dreams contained eagerness to see her new friend she just befriended.

~Naruto's room (in Sandaime's home)~

            Naruto was in a similar position: lying down in bed, thinking, and wondering. _'I wish I knew what my parents were like. But all I know is that my dad was the Fourth since the old man said he was. But, what about my mom, was she a ninja? Argh… I want to know more…'_

            "Hey Naruto…"

            "What is it old man?"

            "How about I enroll you in the Ninja Academy? I'm sure you can make some friends there."

            "Uh… I don't know…. _'Wait Sakura-chan will be there! Yes!' _ "Ok old man I'll go just so that I can see Saku--…" he covered up his mouth as if he was about to say something he wasn't supposed to.

"Hmm? You know some one from there?"

"Uh... uh… nope! Nope! Ehehe…" he nervously laughed when he almost talked about his new friend Sakura. He didn't want anybody to know yet, because she may treat him badly too once she finds out that he is _the_ Naruto everyone hates. _'Oops! I almost talked about Sakura-chan!'_

            "Sakura, As in Haruno Sakura? Hohahaha… since when did you get a girlfriend? Wow... kids these days…" the third chuckled as he left Naruto's room.

            "Ehehehe…" Naruto blushed slightly when the Third spoke of Sakura and said that she was his girlfriend, but then he shouted, "SHE'S ONLY A FRIEND!"

            When everything settled back down Naruto went back to thinking. _'Well at least I get to see Sakura-chan more often now…' _it was until that thought he finally dozed off into his dreams. But during his slumber he mumbled a name, a name that was important to him, the name of his friend, "Sakura-chan…"

~The next day, Sakura's home~

"Mom! I'm ready to go to the Academy now!" Sakura shouted from her room, but there was no response. "Mom?" there was still no response. It was then she walked into the kitchen from her bedroom to look for any signs of her mother's whereabouts. After 5 minutes of looking around she found a note on the counter, it read:

_Sakura,_

_            I'm out shopping. Make sure you get to the Academy early; you don't want to ruin your perfect attendance. _

_With Love,_

_Mom_

            "Great…"she turns around and looks at the clock, "oh no, I'm going to be late!" she quickly gathers her sandals and dashes out the door.

~The Academy's main office~

            "Ah, Kasumi, I want to enroll this child into this Academy."

            " OK, Hokage-sama. Umm, I'll need his name and any class do you prefer him to be in?"

            "Hold on." The old man kneeled to the Chibi's height, "Naruto how about you tell her, I'm sure you know where you want to be."

"Um, OK old man. Um... Lady, I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I want to be in Sakura-chan's class!"

            "Alright, you're student Uzumaki Naruto. Your designated class is Umino Iruka's classroom, right next to Haruno Sakura-chan right?" he blushed at her comment. "Hehehe... now all you need to do now is sign your name right here."

            "OK, U... zu…ma…ki…Nar…u… to… There! I'm done!" he said confidently.

            "Now Naruto let's go to your new class." said the Third as they ventured down the hallway.

~A few minutes later in Iruka's classroom~

This morning was indeed a special day. This is the day when Naruto would be joining the Ninja Academy. The day when... well when he causes trouble…

"Good Morning class, I hope you were well rested for we will be in for a little field train— oh! Hokage-sama, what are you doing here?" questioned Iruka.

"Oh I'm just dropping off a new student here." The Third answered.

"Really? Who is this new student?"

"Uzumaki Naruto"

"OK, well class let's all welcome your new classmate, Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Aw man, not him…" all the students moaned at the of sight him, except for one…

"Is that you Naruto? Hey! Naruto come on sit next to me!" exclaimed one girl's voice.

"Sakura-chan? Sakura-chan! Is this your classroom? What do you do here?" 

"Huh? You don't know?! You're now a part of a school that teaches you how to become a ninja!"

"Huh?"

" * Sigh * '_what's his deal?_' If you try really hard, you can become the top ninja! If you do that, you'll be recognized and respected by all hundreds of people!"

"Really?!"

"Yup!"

****

"Wow! What do you do here again?"

_'WHAT?! How could he already forget what I said?! He's lucky that I like him… um…  like him as a friend! Because if I didn't I would have already hit him by now.' _"Sigh… Baka…"

"Sakura-chan, what's the matter?"

"Nothing at all Naruto, nothing at all..."

~In a field just outside the woods~

"OK class, today you're going to do some shuriken and kunai practice. Don't worry the blades are very dull so it'll be hard to cut yourself," explained Iruka, "now, lets begin! But, if I catch you trying to hurt each other you'll be immediately be reported to your parents!"

All of them replied, "Hai, Iruka-sensei!" 

While everyone started practicing, one new blonde haired student was having trouble. Luckily, his newfound friend decided to help him. So she tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

"Huh? Sakura-chan?" he asked as he turned around.

"Hey Naruto, want me to help you?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah! Um... thanks Sakura-chan. I probably won't learn all of this stuff as well as you…"

"Why not? It's not that hard. C'mon I'll show you how to throw some, ok?"

"Ok Sakura-chan!"

While Sakura was teaching Naruto how to hold and throw shuriken and kunai, some of Sakura's friends were wondering why she was helping Naruto.

"Maybe she likes him. I've seen them together once before"

"Nah, it can't be no one can resist Sasuke-kun's charm!"

"Well maybe she's immune to his charm I mean, she's never really met Sasuke-kun before, so it's possible"

"But why is she hanging around _him_? He's the troublemaker remember?"

"I know I know. It's just that why would she like _him_? Maybe she's trying to make fun of us, I don't know…" said Ino. _'Sakura-chan whatever possessed you to like him anyhow, are you just trying to act tough? Whatever you're doing it's working…'_ Ino started looking back at the couple as Sakura showed him the proper way to hold a kunai. _'Maybe Sakura does like him, but doesn't notice at all…'_

"Good Naruto you're getting the hang of it! Now throw it towards that tree!" instructed Sakura.

"Ok! Here goes nothing! Ha!" he threw that knife with all his might towards the tree he was aiming for. 

"BULLSEYE! Yay! Naruto you got it!" Sakura exclaimed with pure happiness, she was so happy she didn't even notice that she came up to Naruto and hugged him! _'What the… am I hugging Naruto? Oh well… he deserves it I guess…'_

"Um... Sakura-chan… I can't breathe…" whispered Naruto as he turned blue.

"Oh! Sorry Naruto-ku… Naruto. But anyways you keep practicing, I'll be right back I need to talk to some of my friends, ok?"

"Ok, Sakura-chan."

As our hero continues to practice the emerald eyed girl walked over to Ino and her friends to discuss a certain issue…

"Sakura-chan! I would have never expected you to go after that troublemaker Naruto!" yelled Ino.

"What do you mean Ino-chan?"

"You know exactly what I mean, you like that good for nothing idiot Naruto!"

"* Blush * I do not! Besides he's only my friend and he needs my help. So you better not going and make sudden conclusions from what you see."

"Well Sakura-chan… your face is showing otherwise… unless that's not a blush."

"Huh? * Gasp *" Sakura continuously tries to cover her reddening face. _'maybe I do like him…' _"Umm... I'll talk to you later Ino-chan! Bye!"

" * Laughs * bye Sakura-chan! Tell your boyfriend I sa---"

"OW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed a voice.

All eyes turned to Naruto. They all assumed he did something wrong, and did do something wrong… he accidentally threw one of his kunai at Iruka butt, sure the blades were dull but they still would hurt terribly if they came into contact with skin.

"ALL RIGHT WHO THREW THAT?!" screamed/asked Iruka.

All the students besides Naruto and Sakura pointed to who the assumed culprit was.

"Naruto! Will you please explain to me why you threw a kunai at me?!"

"Umm… Iruka-sensei I didn't mean it! I've never really held a kunai that much. "

" * Sigh * I'll let it slide this time Naruto…"

"hehehehe…thanks." 

~After class is over in front of the Academy~ 

When everyone was being picked up to go home or just plain walked home, Sakura and Naruto were left alone together before the Third came to pick him up. It was silent for the most of the time until Sakura broke the awkward silence.

"So, Naruto how'd you like your first day at the Academy? Was it fun?"

"I guess it was fun, though I didn't like it when Iruka-sensei yelled at me. But spending the day with you was fun Sakura-chan!"

"Um... thank you Naruto. But…. I think the Third is here to pick you up."

"Huh? Oh…" he sighed when the he saw the old man slowly coming up the street. "I guess I'll see you again tomorrow, huh Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah… bye."

"Bye Sakura-chan!" he started waving as he ran towards the Third. As soon as he caught up with the old man he started tell him about his day at the Academy, on how Sakura taught him so much, and the fact that he hit Iruka with a kunai.

"Good night… Naruto-kun…" whispered Sakura as she turned to go home.

~End chapter 3~

Bass Clef: woo... long chapter… anyways I think this wasn't my best chapter, too many errors and awkward typing locations. But um if you spotted any errors where the italics are supposed to be please ignore that problem... document manager hates me when I type Italics…Anyways I'll probably have a Christmas Fic up on the 25th. Please R&R!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Kishimoto Masashi created "Naruto" not me.

A/N: Bass Clef here with chapter four, I'm on spring break right now and this fic is coming to an end soon. I may get a fifth chapter up by the end of the week but that is very unlikely. I tried to make this chapter around 4000 words long but that's too much for me. I have enjoyed writing this, but once this fic is done with its possible sixth and final chapter I'm through with writing fics. Sad huh? 

Anyway here's chapter four, hope you enjoy it!

Key:

The entire previous text key is the same for all the other chapters.

~ Chapter 4: Longest chapter? Friendship turns into love? The truth is revealed? What's going on? Too many questions… @_@ ~

Weeks have passed and life has been going better for Naruto, he had a home, he made a friend, and he was having fun without sadness. For once he was happy and he knew people were starting to think a bit differently about him, in a positive way. He also was looking forward to every passing day, wanted to make new friends and of course seeing Sakura.

But then again, today was going to have a test. The Third and he studied for hours on end last night since Naruto had come to the academy mid year. Though you could say the Hokage had the answers to the test since he did set the base for all tests the academy gives out (including the answers), so in a way you could say they were… cheating.

~Flashback~

"Oi Naruto, I heard you have a test tomorrow. How about we study a bit?" asked the Third.

"Sure, but can we study the answers again?"

"No, that'd be cheating, besides I think Iruka is catching on to our scheme."

"Liar!"

"Naruto if you cheat all your life you'll really never going to get very far in life, so lets just try and see how studying the facts effects your test score, ok?"

"Fine…"

~End Flashback~

Just in a few moments the test will be handed out and testing will occur being followed by the tapings of pencils on paper. If you stood in front of the classroom you could easily pick out which students would fail and pass. Though Naruto was the exception. His face held many mixed emotions on several topics especially ones about the test. Many thoughts ran through his head like, _'did I study enough last night? I'm gonna kill the old man for not giving me the answers last night!' _and some thoughts that weren't about the test, _'I wonder what Sakura-chan is thinking…she looks real pretty right now…I wonder if she likes me. I wonder if we'll end up married…'_

As Naruto's thoughts were cut off by Iruka who started to hand out the test. Naruto tried to peek at the sheets of paper hoping to see what kind of questions are asked, but he failed to succeed, so by the time his copy of the test came to him his mind started to race trying to remember all the things he really did study the night before. Iruka's voice once again cut off his long train of thought with this comment, "alright class you have five minutes left to complete the test!"

'WHAAAAAAAT?! How could have I dozed off?! When did Iruka-sensei give the signal to start?! Ok, don't worry Naruto you can get this done before-'

"One minute left!"

'OH NOOOOO!!!! OK! First question, "When is Kawarimi no Jutsu most useful?" oh that's easy… uh… hold on… OH NO! I forgot!!!'

"30 seconds left!"

'Just my luck…when I actually study for the first time I bomb the test! I guess there's no point in actually trying to finish this test.'

"Time's up!" Iruka shouted, "anyone who is not finished please put down your No. 2 pencils and pass the test to the center of the classroom. Whoever did not finish or did not think they did well please remember this is not the only test this month, so you will have plenty more chances to pass a test. OK everyone, class has ended now and your usual 60-minute recess has started afterwards lunch begins and then after that we have the afternoon class, I will see you all this afternoon now please play safe outside."

Immediately after Iruka finished speaking all the students rushed towards the door to go play, but he had one more thing to say.

"And I need to speak with Naruto."

Upon hearing his name being called Naruto came rushing up to his sensei wondering what was wrong.

"What did I do this time sensei?" pondered Naruto.

"Well Naruto, I noticed that you struggled with the test today. I was wondering if something was wrong, and by the looks of your answers to the test I can see that you didn't study like you usually do. I can still let you pass if you complete the test during recess, so you up for it?"

"Yeah! Thanks for letting me finish the test Iruka-sensei!"

"No problem Naruto no problem at all."

-------- Outside During Recess (where all the students are) --------

"Sasuke-kun! Why don't you come over here and play with us?! Sasuke-kun!" several girls shouted in glee seeing the Uchiha crossing the playground. Even to this day he never really pays attention to the swarms of fan girls that call out to him or surround him. 

            Sasuke just "hmph-ed" and continued to walk across the playground. Completely ignoring all the other children, while idly carrying a kunai and shuriken in each hand.

Though after all the groups of girls failed attempts, not including Sakura and a few others, they got tired of shouting Sasuke's name they resumed the activities they were previously in. Mostly everyone did not notice that Konoha's most hyperactive soon to be ninja and hopefully soon to be Rokudaime was not outside, but inside taking the test everyone supposedly finished and passed. And he was surely taking his sweet time going back through all his answers making sure everything accurate.

When only ten minutes remained in the recess hour Naruto had finished knowing that he got everything exact to what the textbook and notes he had taken… but who knows if his notes were correct?

Sakura had been wondering where Naruto had been for the past 50 minutes until she turned towards the door to see her friend walking out. When Naruto saw her he quickened his pace to greet her.

"Hey Sakura-chan! What's up?" asked Naruto.

"Not much, but where have you been? I've been waiting for you for almost 55 minutes now!" she shouted.

"Oh Sakura-chan I was uh... taking the test. I didn't really get to start on it. I guess I kinda zoned out when it was passed out," he admitted, "sorry, Sakura-chan…"

"It's ok Naruto, c'mon let's go and hurry and get our lunches I've heard we can eat outside today!" 

"OK!"

-------- On the other side of the playground--------

 While Sakura and Naruto where rushing back to the halls of the academy Ino and some friends of hers were conversing over usual topics they gossiped about, especially one about Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.

"When is she going to learn? Naruto is the worst person she can be around with!"

"Yeah, yeah we know, we know. It just doesn't make sense… but did all of you see Sasuke-kun?! I swear he was about to smile! And he was looking right at me too!" exclaimed Ino.

"I-I don't think Sasuke was l-looking at any of you though, he just grunted and sort of walked off." Stated a quiet girl.

"Oh, Hinata stop thinking like that, one day you're going to make us all feel bad to the point of us feeling like we're going to end up marrying someone like that lazy Shikamaru." Complained Ino. 

When he heard his name being called out Shikamaru sighed and continued to look at the clouds trying to ignore the ranting of Ino. He didn't think much of her being more than a loud mouth whom was always interrupting his time of staring at the sky or playing chess. Even though Chouji isn't much of a challenge in chess he's still a friend of his. Suddenly Shikamaru got a tingling feeling up his spine telling him that somehow Ino, Chouji and he were going to be together for a long time.

As every soon-to-be-Genin strolled to the doors to the academy one in particular muttered, "stupid Shikamaru" as they were coming inside, fairly soon afterwards another student muttered, "stupid Ino."

------- Lunchtime! -------

It has only been a few minutes since all the students entered the academy doors to retrieve their lunches. Of course Naruto and Sakura were together talking over several topics like what will they learn in their classes and such. Though it never crossed the pink haired girl's mind to wonder more about her mothers fear and anger towards Naruto. She knew that almost every adult in the village hated him for some weird reason, but she never got a straight answer so she ended up thinking, _'maybe its an adult thing, I hope I don't end up hating Naruto like everyone else does.' _ 

It was a good five minutes before she broke away from the deep thoughts with Naruto waving his hand in front of her face while calling out her name every five seconds. She blinked, snatching Naruto's hand out of the way. Neither spoke a word until they reached a bench next to the playground. Naruto broke the silence with one question.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" asked the blonde.

"Nothing Naruto, I, I was just thinking. That's all." she replied. 

"Oh, well the school year is almost over, you know. When do you think we'll become Genin?"

"I'm not sure. But the average academy student becomes a Genin at the age of twelve. Though in rare cases some become a Genin around our age, or sooner."

"Ok. Hey Sakura-chan…"

"Yeah Naruto?"

"Wanna come over to my place for dinner sometime?"

"Don't you live with Sandaime?"

"Huh? Oh you mean the old man. Yeah I live with him, since he promised my parents that…" he sighed towards the end of his sentence, "…he would take care of me…"

The silence returned, causing both children to simply stare at the ground. Yet both of their reasons were different; Naruto being depressed over the death of his parents and Sakura, whom he first befriended, caused the whole mess in the first place. The young blonde once again penetrated the stillness in the air.

"Sakura-chan, I'-"

"I'm sorry Naruto, I'm sorry for making you runaway that day when I said, well you know."

"Don't worry about Sakura-chan, if it weren't for you I wouldn't of found out that my parents got the old man to promise to take care of me. Or even finding out who my parents were…"

Sakura wanted to know whom his parents were, but she hesitated because if she did asked it may upset him again. Moments passed when she finally asked him what she have been wondering for quite a while now.

"Naruto, is it OK if I ask who your parents were?"

"Yeah it is, but I'm not allowed to tell you. If I were to then the old man would fear that the secret would get out. Maybe I can tell you if I get permission from him."

"It's all right Naruto I don't need to know. Let's just finish our lunches, we spent almost all our time talking."

"OK"

-------- Afternoon Class (Iruka's Classroom) --------

As soon as the bell rang for the afternoon lesson to start Iruka had papers in his hands, which happened to the tests they took earlier, but this time the tests were graded. All of the students cringed at the sight of the test hoping they didn't fail. 

"Alright before we start today's lesson I have your tests graded. I am very impressed with everyone's grades almost all of you got a 90% or above." As Iruka passed students handing their tests he said congratulations to each,  "Here you go Sakura a perfect 100% like always." 

She giggled, "thank you Iruka-sensei."

 As he approached the row behind Sakura he passed a test to Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji, "You too Ino good job you got a 101%… here Shikamaru, uh here's your test… try harder next time, ok? Nice job Chouji keep up the good work."

When Ino received her test she flat out bragged about it to Sakura, "Heh, Sakura anything you can do I can do better." When Shikamaru saw his he just sighed and said something like "tests are too troublesome." All tests have been passed out except Naruto's. Once Iruka reached to the row Naruto was sitting in (right next to Sakura) he handed his test to him.

 Iruka smiled while saying, "Congrats Naruto you did the best out of everyone here." 

"Huh? What do you mean? Huh, YATTAH!!! All that studying helped! Hehehe…" exclaimed Naruto, "I got a 120%!"

It took everyone a few seconds to actually respond, they were all too shocked of what Naruto had gotten on his test. To put it in the simplest way all the other students including Sakura yelled, "WHAAAAAAT??!!" while Naruto had a fairly large grin plastered onto his face.

--------- After school ---------

Just as Naruto was heading to his home with the Third he heard someone in particular calling his name out. As usual it was Sakura wishing to speak with our young hero. They were roughly 100 meters away from each other so Sakura ran as much as she could to catch up to him.

"Wait up Naruto-kun! Wait up!" _'Since when did I start saying Naruto-kun?'_

"Huh? What's wrong Sakura-chan? Still wondering how I got that cool test score of 120%?" he said smirking.

She sighed, "Yes and no. But anyway can I come over to your place tomorrow?"

"Yeah! Sure just let me ask the old man first! … Demo Sakura-chan what about your parents won't they disapprove of you coming over?" asked a concerned Naruto.

"Yeah they will, unless I tell them that I… um... hold on what was my plan…? Darn. I forgot my plan well I'm sure if I tell my parents that the Third will be there I'm positive that I'll be allowed to stay over at your place for a bit."

"Thanks Sakura-chan for everything, one day I'm going to repay you no matter what it is. That's a promise!"

"No need to thank me Naruto-kun. That's just what friends are for; they stick up for each other. So, um… thanks for everything you've done for me Naruto-kun… this is for you…." She trailed her sentence into a whisper. A moment of silence passed until Sakura planted a small kiss on Naruto's cheek, causing both to go red. Then she spoke once again whispering in his ear, "I really like you Naruto-kun. Cya tomorrow."

'Eh, that was awkward and maybe a little too straight forward with my words and actions... but nevertheless I gave him a sign that I really like him. Goodnight Naruto-kun, wow that rolls of the tongue real well… interesting.' That's what Sakura thought afterwards that all…. Now lets see Naruto's reaction! 

            Naruto just stood there staring blankly at the sky thinking about what just happened... well he couldn't really think he just had a blank thought that's all. Oh wait, here's his thought, _'Sakura-chan really likes me… SHE LIKES ME!!! YAY!'_

            Well, Naruto had his day. He couldn't wait to tell the old man what happened, but we all know the Sandaime was looking through his crystal ball laughing his head off, who then couldn't wait to make fun of Naruto when he got home.

-------- End of Chapter 4 --------

A/N: Well, Chapter 4 is completed, though I kind of feel cheated from my works. So I'm going to go back through all the other chapters and redo them, adding scenes, fixing dialogue, and all the things that made them full of errors. Um... oh I found an ending theme to this fic, "Harmonia" by RYTHEM, you know the 2nd ending theme to the anime. I think it fits what I have in store for all of you guys and girls… err mostly girls.

Sorry about the confusing title as well. But it's still relevant to the chapter!

I'll be in New York City for a few days next week (the 15th-18th (Thursday-Sunday)) if any of you fans out there live near there be sure to find me. Haha though it'll be hard to find me.  

But before I sign out for the evening of this post I have some extra stuff for all of you to read. This was originally supposed to be part of this chapter, but after I got through halfway I decided it didn't fit at all. So here it is!

_"Why can't I see him again?!"_

_"Because he's evil. He's a horrible kid and no one should be near him!"_

_"That's not very convincing!"_

_"It doesn't have to be! As long as you keep away from that boy you're safe!"_

_"What's so horrible about him?! He's nice, kind, funny and he's my friend,_

_I really like him!"_

_"Sakura go to your room NOW!"_

_"FINE! But you can't stop me from seeing him!"_

_"Yes we can! We'll make you stop being a ninja if we have to!"_

_"Then do so if it makes you happy!"_

_"We will!"_

_ With being tired of this quarrel she finally gave up, "…I'll be going to my room now…" Sakura whispered._

As she was walking up the stairs she began to cry. This was the first fight she and her parents got into which was over a boy. Her relationship with Naruto was only a mere friendship right? Or does she love him? She began to ponder on the events that have occurred over the past few years when she arrived to her room.  She closed and locked the door then slowly walking towards her bed she began holding herself while crying on her bed wishing the fight never occurred.

_"Naruto-kun, I wish you were here comforting me with your smile… but since my parents hate you too we may never see each other again…" after awhile of silent contemplation Sakura soon fell sleep…_

Yet Sakura soon woke up to find out that the fight… and everything that occurred afterwards was only a dream; a dream that may hold contents of what is to come? Only time would tell…

A/N: Cya when chapter 5 comes out!


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